Mobile audio input device controller

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and/or computer program product controls operations of a mobile audio input device. One or more processors detect a first location of a mobile audio input device. The processor(s) detect a second location of the user. The processor(s) then direct the mobile audio input device to autonomously move from the first location to the second location and, in response to the mobile audio input device reaching the second location, to activate the microphone on the mobile audio input device.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to the field of drones. Morespecifically, the present disclosure relates to adjusting operations ofa drone that includes a microphone for capturing sounds, including humanspeech.

A drone is a device that is capable of being remotely maneuvered withoutan on-board pilot. Drones may be aerial drones, terrestrial drones, oraquatic drones.

An aerial drone is an unmanned aircraft, also known as an unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV). That is, an aerial drone is an airborne vehiclethat is capable of being piloted without an on-board human pilot. Ifautonomously controlled using an on-board computer and pre-programmedinstructions, a UAV is called an autonomous drone. If remotely pilotedby a human pilot, the UAV is called a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).

A terrestrial drone is a device that runs on land, such as on a paved orunpaved surface, a track, a cushion of air, etc. Like an aerial drone, aterrestrial drone may be operated remotely or autonomously.

An aquatic drone is a device that operates on water, such as on a river,ocean, pond, etc. Like an aerial drone, an aquatic drone may be operatedremotely or autonomously.

SUMMARY

A method, system, and/or computer program product controls operations ofa mobile audio input device. One or more processors detect a firstlocation of a mobile audio input device. The processor(s) detect asecond location of the user. The processor(s) then direct the mobileaudio input device to autonomously move from the first location to thesecond location and, in response to the mobile audio input devicereaching the second location, to activate the microphone on the mobileaudio input device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary system and network in which the presentdisclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary aerial drone used in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary terrestrial drone used in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates control hardware and other hardware features of adrone used in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 depicts an aerial drone being utilized in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a high-level flow chart of one or more steps performed by oneor more computing and/or other hardware devices to control movement of adrone being used as a mobile audio input device in accordance with oneor more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 8 depicts abstraction model layers of a cloud computer environmentaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Disclosed herein is a method and system that makes use of a mobile audioinput device (e.g., flying drone with microphone, specializedterrestrial drone with microphone, an activated smart phone, etc.) and ahardware for determining to whom mobile devices are deployed (e.g.,people with raised hands in an auditorium). This invention is useful invarious scenarios, including but not limited to when improved audiocapture is needed in a large auditorium, a conference room, a conventioncenter, etc., in which multiple people wish to provide verbal feedback(e.g., to ask questions after a speaker has given a presentation).

Speakers at a conference or in a meeting often ask questions of theaudience, and vice versa, but microphone deployment can be a challenge.The present invention meets this challenge through the use of a mobileaudio input device (e.g., a flying drone with a microphone, aterrestrial drone with a microphone, activation of one or moresmartphones, etc.) and a means for determining to whom mobile devicesare deployed (e.g., people with raised hands in an auditorium).

As described herein and in one or more embodiments of the presentinvention, the mobile audio input device can be a flying drone with anattached/embedded microphone. For example, the drone can fly to a personin the audience who has his/her hand raised, or the drone may be aland-based (terrestrial) drone (that has a microphone) that drives tothis person (e.g., on wheels).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the mobile audio inputdevice is an electronic device (e.g., a smart phone) that is carried bythe person. Thus, the smart phone is selectively activated to be able tocapture speech input from that particular person for transmission to apublic address (PA) system.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the smart phonedisplays a visual cue (e.g., its display turns green) and/or the dronedisplays a visual cue (e.g., turns on a green light on the drone) whenthe smart phone and/or the aerial/terrestrial drone has been activatedto function as a transmitter of the user's speech input to the PAsystem.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the smart phonedisplays a visual cue (e.g., its display turns red) and/or the dronedisplays a visual cue (e.g., turns on a red light on the drone) when thesmart phone and/or the aerial/terrestrial drone has been de-activatedand/or is about to be de-activated (e.g., within 10 seconds).

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the mobile audioinput device provides various types of indicators (e.g., visual,tactile, and/or audio) when it is ready for a selected participant toprovide speech input to the mobile audio input device (e.g., ask aquestion). For example, the mobile audio input device may indicate witha green light that it is ready to take a question, which can betransmitted in real time or buffered for subsequent transmission.Similarly, a red light indicator on the mobile audio input device canindicate the question is not being transmitted. That is, the red lightindicator may indicate that the mobile audio input device has beendeactivated and/or the buffer holding a digital copy of the user'squestion has been flushed.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the mobile audioinput device determines which person should speak next (i.e., to whichperson should the mobile audio input device autonomously move and beactivated to receive that person's speech input) based on variousparameters. For example, this order may be based on an order in whichpeople have raised their hands or made gestures (e.g., those first tomake such gestures have first priority of use of the mobile audio inputdevice(s)), such as in a large auditorium after a speaker has concludedhis/her presentation.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the order of priorityfor using the mobile audio input device is based on a biometric sensorreading of a cognitive state and/or mood of a particular user. Forexample, a biometric sensor (either a remote sensor on the drone or apersonal sensor on the user's person) may detect a state of anticipation(e.g., sweat detected by a sweat biometric sensor on the user's body),anger (e.g., a facial expression of the user as captured by a camera onthe drone), agitation (e.g., increased heart rate as detected by a heartmonitor worn by the user), etc.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the order of priorityfor using the mobile audio input device is based on predetermined usercriteria. For example, the system may be configured to give priority ofuse of the mobile audio input device to persons having certaineducational backgrounds, certain job descriptions, certain job titles, ahistory of asking questions or not asking questions during a current orpast meetings, etc.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the order ofpriority for using the mobile audio input device is determined bymatching a topic of a meeting with the profile of user. For example,assume that a seminar is being held on the topic of economics. Assumefurther that there are hundreds of participants in the audience at theseminar, each having different profiles/backgrounds. The system willidentify persons who wish to use the mobile audio input device (e.g., toask the seminar panel members a question or to offer an opinion on thesubject of the seminar) as determined by hand waving, etc. as describedherein. The system will then give priority to persons who have a profilethat matches the topic of the seminar. For example, if a Nobel laureatein the field of economics is in the audience, that person would be givenpriority of use of the mobile audio input device over a person whoseprofile shows no background in the field of economics.

Thus, the system will maneuver the mobile audio input device (e.g., aflying drone that has a microphone attached thereto) to people in anaudience or in a meeting based on various factors such as the expertiseof a participant, the background of a participant, the speaking historyof a participant, etc.

As another exemplary example of the functioning of the system presentedherein, consider a conference on the topic of IoT (Internet of Things).Maja starts asking questions about APIs (application programminginterfaces) and their use for IoT. The system detects that Mary andAshley also want to ask questions. Mary is known (from pastinteractions) to ask provocative questions, and to take a lot of time.Ashley's interest is in inference of data in IoT. Various expertiselevels of the audience members may be considered. The system may givepriority to Ashley, so as to control the time better when it's Mary'sturn.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the mobile audioinput device leaves a particular person after that particular person hasspoken for a certain time (e.g., a drone with a microphone flies away togive someone else a turn to ask a question). This can be useful whenthere is limited time to ask questions, and it is not desirable to haveone person monopolize the conversation.

Although aerial drones are typically quiet (especially when electric),in one or more embodiments noise suppression systems are used to quietany noise from the drone. For example, assume that an electric flyingdrone emits a constant periodic noise from its propellers and engines.The system will generate an inverse sound through a speaker thateffectively cancels/reduces this noise. That is, whenever the droneemits a positive pressure sound wave, this positive pressure sound waveis captured by a microphone and sent to a processor on the drone. Theprocessor then generates a negative pressure sound wave of equalintensity, which physically cancels out the positive pressure sound wave(i.e., cancels the noise of the drone) when played on a local speaker.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the mobile audioinput device includes a pointing device, such as a laser pointer, thusallowing the user to reference objects while they speak into the device.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, a wireless mutebutton is provided to the system, thus allowing the lecturer ordiscussion leader to control when the mobile audio input device (e.g.,microphone equipped drone) will be operative.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the system includesan automatic level control for more than one audio signal source (fromthe drones, smartphones, etc.). For example, an ambiance channel canproduce an ambiance audio signal as a reference threshold such as from anoise microphone located away from the program microphones. Variablegain amplifiers in a plurality of program channels selectively gate-openthose program channels that have audio present exceeding the ambiancethreshold. When the program channels are below the noise threshold andhence inactive, they are gated off and the background noise in theambiance channel is shunted around the program channel to the output. Inone or more embodiments, a control function circuit adjusts the gain ofeach of the program channels that have been opened as an inversefunction of the number of open microphones on drones. In anotherembodiment, a programmed microcomputer receives as inputs the statussignals that represent the gated open or gated off conditions of theprogram channels. These status signals are processed by a softwareprogram in the microcomputer that performs both the functions of gatingopen individual program channels relative to the background noise level,and setting the gain of each of the program channels according to themicrophone function.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the mobile audioinput device (e.g., the mobile microphone on a drone) is equipped with adisplay that provides real time feedback to the person who is asking thequestion. The display can provide information for assisting the personwho is asking the question or for managing the flow of the entirelecture/presentation.

For example, if the allowed time for the question is almost over, thedisplay can display the remaining time. For example, the phrase could be“Please finish your questions in 10 seconds.”

Several people may be vying for one or more available mobile audio inputdevices. In one embodiment of the present invention, this issue isresolved using an automated distributed leader election for performingmicrophone/drone usage negotiation. For example, assume that multipledrones are networked together (i.e., can communicate amongstthemselves). As such, the drones can determine which drone is to begiven priority over other drones based on the capabilities of the drones(e.g., their respective abilities to capture sound, recognize movement,etc.) and/or their proximity to an optimal user (e.g., a person in theaudience who has been identified as an expert in the topic beingpresented in the seminar). The drones will negotiate amongst themselvesto identify this “alpha” drone, which is activated first.

With reference now to the figures, and in particular to FIG. 1, there isdepicted a block diagram of an exemplary system and network that may beutilized by and/or in the implementation of the present invention. Someor all of the exemplary architecture, including both depicted hardwareand software, shown for and within computer 101 may be utilized by droneon-board computer 123 and/or software deploying server 149 and/orpositioning system 151 and/or drone controller 155 shown in FIG. 1,and/or drone mechanisms controller 401 and/or drone on-board computer423 shown in FIG. 4, and/or drone controller device 555 shown in FIG. 5.

Exemplary computer 101 includes a processor 103 that is coupled to asystem bus 105. Processor 103 may utilize one or more processors, eachof which has one or more processor cores. A video adapter 107, whichdrives/supports a display 109, is also coupled to system bus 105. Systembus 105 is coupled via a bus bridge 111 to an input/output (I/O) bus113. An I/O interface 115 is coupled to I/O bus 113. I/O interface 115affords communication with various I/O devices, including a keyboard117, a camera 119 (i.e., a digital camera capable of capturing still andmoving images), a media tray 121 (which may include storage devices suchas CD-ROM drives, multi-media interfaces, etc.), and external USBport(s) 125. While the format of the ports connected to I/O interface115 may be any known to those skilled in the art of computerarchitecture, in one embodiment some or all of these ports are universalserial bus (USB) ports.

Also coupled to I/O interface 115 is a positioning system 151, whichdetermines a position of computer 101 and/or other devices usingpositioning sensors 153. Positioning sensors 153 may be any type ofsensors that are able to determine a position of a device, includingcomputer 101, an aerial drone 200 shown in FIG. 2, a terrestrial drone300 shown in FIG. 3, a portable electronic device such as the smartphone 509 shown in FIG. 5, etc. Positioning sensors 153 may utilize,without limitation, satellite based positioning devices (e.g., globalpositioning system—GPS based devices), accelerometers (to measure changein movement), barometers (to measure changes in altitude), etc.

As depicted, computer 101 is able to communicate with a softwaredeploying server 149 and/or other devices/systems (e.g., drone on-boardcomputer 123 and/or a software deploying server 149 and/or a dronecontroller 155) using a network interface 129. Network interface 129 isa hardware network interface, such as a network interface card (NIC),etc. Network 127 may be an external network such as the Internet, or aninternal network such as an Ethernet or a virtual private network (VPN).In one or more embodiments, network 127 is a wireless network, such as aWi-Fi network, a cellular network, etc.

A hard drive interface 131 is also coupled to system bus 105. Hard driveinterface 131 interfaces with a hard drive 133. In one embodiment, harddrive 133 populates a system memory 135, which is also coupled to systembus 105. System memory is defined as a lowest level of volatile memoryin computer 101. This volatile memory includes additional higher levelsof volatile memory (not shown), including, but not limited to, cachememory, registers and buffers. Data that populates system memory 135includes computer 101's operating system (OS) 137 and applicationprograms 143.

OS 137 includes a shell 139, for providing transparent user access toresources such as application programs 143. Generally, shell 139 is aprogram that provides an interpreter and an interface between the userand the operating system. More specifically, shell 139 executes commandsthat are entered into a command line user interface or from a file.Thus, shell 139, also called a command processor, is generally thehighest level of the operating system software hierarchy and serves as acommand interpreter. The shell provides a system prompt, interpretscommands entered by keyboard, mouse, or other user input media, andsends the interpreted command(s) to the appropriate lower levels of theoperating system (e.g., a kernel 141) for processing. While shell 139 isa text-based, line-oriented user interface, the present invention willequally well support other user interface modes, such as graphical,voice, gestural, etc.

As depicted, OS 137 also includes kernel 141, which includes lowerlevels of functionality for OS 137, including providing essentialservices required by other parts of OS 137 and application programs 143,including memory management, process and task management, diskmanagement, and mouse and keyboard management.

Application programs 143 include a renderer, shown in exemplary manneras a browser 145. Browser 145 includes program modules and instructionsenabling a world wide web (WWW) client (i.e., computer 101) to send andreceive network messages to the Internet using hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) messaging, thus enabling communication with softwaredeploying server 149 and other systems.

Application programs 143 in computer 101's system memory also includeLogic for Managing Drone Operations (LMDO) 147. LMDO 147 includes codefor implementing the processes described below, including thosedescribed in FIGS. 2-6. In one embodiment, computer 101 is able todownload LMDO 147 from software deploying server 149, including in anon-demand basis. In one embodiment, software deploying server 149 isable to execute one or more instructions from LMDO 147 and provide theresults to computer 101, thus relieving computer 101 from the need toutilize its internal processing power.

A drone controller 155 is able to communicate with computer 101 vianetwork 127. Drone controller 155 is a wireless controller that controlsa drone (e.g., aerial drone 200 shown in FIG. 2 and/or terrestrial drone300 shown in FIG. 3) either autonomously or under the instructions/inputentered by a user of the drone controller 155.

The hardware elements depicted in computer 101 are not intended to beexhaustive, but rather are representative to highlight essentialcomponents required by the present invention. For instance, computer 101may include alternate memory storage devices such as magnetic cassettes,digital versatile disks (DVDs), Bernoulli cartridges, and the like.These and other variations are intended to be within the spirit andscope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary aerial drone 200 that may be used inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. Theterms “aerial drone” and “unmanned aerial vehicle” (“UAV”) are usedinterchangeably herein to identify and describe an airborne vehicle thatis capable of pilot-less flight.

As shown in FIG. 2, aerial drone 200 includes a body 202, which isattached to supports such as support 204. Supports such as support 204support stanchions such as stanchion 206. Such stanchions provide ahousing for a driveshaft within each of the stanchions, such as thedepicted driveshaft 208 within stanchion 206. These driveshafts areconnected to propellers. For example, driveshaft 208 within stanchion206 is connected to propeller 210.

A power transfer mechanism 212 (e.g., a chain, a primary driveshaft,etc.) transfers power from a geared transmission 214 to the driveshaftswithin the stanchions (e.g., from geared transmission 214 to thedriveshaft 208 inside stanchion 206), such that propeller 210 is turned,thus providing lift and steering to the aerial drone 200. Gearedtransmission 214 preferably contains a plurality of gears, such that agear ratio inside geared transmission 214 can be selectively changed.

Power to the geared transmission 214 is selectively provided by anelectric motor 216 (which is supplied with electrical power by a battery218) or an internal combustion engine 220, which burns fuel from a fueltank (not shown). In one or more embodiments of the present invention,the internal combustion engine 220 has greater power than the electricmotor 216, since internal combustion engines are able to produce greatertorque/power and have a greater range (can fly farther) than electricmotors of the same size/weight. However, internal combustion engine 220is louder than electric motor 216, and thus electric motor 216 is apreferred source of power for the aerial drone 200.

Affixed to the bottom of body 202 is a peripherals support 222 thatholds a microphone 226, a camera 228, a pointer 230 and/or a biometricsensor 232. A peripherals controller 224 is able to direction thepositioning of the microphone 226, aim, focus, etc. camera 228, controlthe movement of pointer 230, and/or operate biometric sensor 232, allpreferably under the control of the drone on-board computer 223.

For example, the microphone 226 can be a directional microphone, that isaimed at a particular person. This aiming is performed by positioningdevices (e.g., electromechanical servos the aim the microphone 226).Similarly, the peripherals controller 224 can mute noise from the aerialdrone 200 by generating and projecting anti-phase sound pressure that isopposite that produced by the aerial drone 200, thus quieting the aerialdrone 200.

Similarly, camera can be aimed and/or focused using electromechanicalservos that aim the camera 228 towards a particular person, and/or toadjust the focus onto that particular person.

Similarly, pointer 230 may be a laser pointer or similar electronicpointing device that aims a light or other signal onto a particularlocation. For example, if pointer 230 is a laser pointer, then theperipherals controller 224 can use a system of electromechanical servosto aim that laser beam from the laser pointer to a particular object ona screen. Alternatively, pointer 230 may be a wireless pointer thatdirects a remote electronic display (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED)screen) to project a particular icon, based on where the wireless (e.g.,infrared) pointer is aimed at the LED screen (assuming that the LEDscreen is able to detect infrared energy from the pointer 230).

Furthermore, the peripherals controller 224 may control operations ofthe biometric sensor 232, which may be a camera for detecting facialexpressions (indicative of certain biometric states such as agitation,anger, fear, etc.); or a heat sensor for detecting heat levels of aperson (also indicative of various emotional states such as anger, fear,etc.); or a remote heat monitor that picks up heart rate based onsensing frequency of movement of carotid arteries of a particularperson; etc.

With reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary terrestrial drone 300 that may beused in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present inventionis presented. The term “terrestrial drone” is used to identify anautonomous vehicle that moves across land, such as a small crawler,wheeled device, etc.

As with the aerial drone 200 shown in FIG. 2, terrestrial drone 200includes a body 302, which is attached to supports such as support 304.Supports such as support 304 support wheels such as power wheel 332.That is, support 304 provides both a support for power wheel 332 as wellas a housing for a driveshaft (e.g., power transfer mechanism 312).Power transfer mechanism 312 (e.g., a chain, a primary driveshaft, etc.)transfers power from a geared transmission 314 to the power wheel 332.Geared transmission 314 preferably contains a plurality of gears, suchthat a gear ratio inside geared transmission 314 can be selectivelychanged.

Power to the geared transmission 314 is selectively provided by anelectric motor 316 (which is supplied with electrical power by a battery318) or an internal combustion engine 320, which burns fuel from a fueltank (not shown). In one or more embodiments of the present invention,the internal combustion engine 320 has greater power than the electricmotor 316, since internal combustion engines are able to produce greatertorque/power and have a greater range (can drive farther) than electricmotors of the same size/weight. However, internal combustion engine 320is louder than electric motor 316, and thus electric motor 316 is apreferred source of power for the terrestrial drone 300, as well as theaerial drone 200 shown in FIG. 2.

Also affixed to body 302 is a peripherals support 322 that holds amicrophone 326, a camera 328, and/or a pointer 330, which perform thesame operations described in FIG. 2 for microphone 226, camera 228, andpointer 230. As with peripherals controller 224 described in FIG. 2,peripherals controller 324 shown in FIG. 3 controls (preferably underthe higher control of the drone on-board computer 323) the operations ofmicrophone 326, camera 328, and pointer 330.

In order to provide additional stability to terrestrial drone 300, otherpower wheels (either not shown or not labeled) are installed on theterrestrial drone 300. Alternatively, such additional stability isprovided by non-powered wheels, such as the depicted idler wheel 334.

With reference now to FIG. 4, exemplary control hardware within a drone400 (e.g., aerial drone 200 shown in FIG. 2 and/or terrestrial drone 300shown in FIG. 3) is depicted.

A drone on-board computer 423 (analogous to drone on-board computer 223shown in FIG. 2 and/or drone on-board computer 323 shown in FIG. 3)controls a drone mechanisms controller 401, which is a computing devicethat controls a set of drone physical control mechanisms 403. The set ofdrone physical control mechanisms 403 includes, but is not limited to,throttles for internal combustion engine 220/320 and/or electric motor216/316, selectors for selecting gear ratios within the gearedtransmission 214/314, controls for adjusting the pitch, roll, and angleof attack of propellers such as propeller 210 and other controls used tocontrol the operation and movement of the aerial drone 200 depicted inFIG. 2, steering power wheel 332 and/or idler wheel 334 of theterrestrial drone 300 depicted in FIG. 3, etc.

Whether in autonomous mode or remotely-piloted mode, the drone on-boardcomputer 423 controls the operation of drone 400. This control includesthe use of outputs from navigation and control sensors 405 to controlthe drone 400. Navigation and control sensors 405 include hardwaresensors that (1) determine the location of the drone 400; (2) senseother drones and/or obstacles and/or physical structures around drone400; (3) measure the speed and direction of the drone 400; and (4)provide any other inputs needed to safely control the movement of thedrone 400.

With respect to the feature of (1) determining the location of the drone400, this is achieved in one or more embodiments of the presentinvention through the use of a positioning system such as positioningsystem 151 (shown in FIG. 1), which may be part of the drone on-boardcomputer 423, combined with positioning sensor 453. Positioning system151 may use a global positioning system (GPS), which uses space-basedsatellites that provide positioning signals that are triangulated by aGPS receiver to determine a 3-D geophysical position of the drone 400.Positioning system 151 may also use, either alone or in conjunction witha GPS system, physical movement sensors such as accelerometers (whichmeasure changes in direction and/or speed by an aerial drone in anydirection in any of three dimensions), speedometers (which measure theinstantaneous speed of an aerial drone), air-flow meters (which measurethe flow of air around an aerial drone), barometers (which measurealtitude changes by the aerial drone), etc. Such physical movementsensors may incorporate the use of semiconductor strain gauges,electromechanical gauges that take readings from drivetrain rotations,barometric sensors, etc.

With respect to the feature of (2) sensing other aerial drones and/orobstacles and/or physical structures around drone 400, the droneon-board computer 423 may utilize radar or other electromagnetic energythat is emitted from an electromagnetic radiation transmitter (e.g.,transceiver 407 shown in FIG. 4), bounced off a physical structure(e.g., a building, bridge, or another aerial drone), and then receivedby an electromagnetic radiation receiver (e.g., transceiver 407). Bymeasuring the time it takes to receive back the emitted electromagneticradiation, and/or evaluating a Doppler shift (i.e., a change infrequency to the electromagnetic radiation that is caused by therelative movement of the drone 400 to objects being interrogated by theelectromagnetic radiation) in the received electromagnetic radiationfrom when it was transmitted, the presence and location of otherphysical objects can be ascertained by the drone on-board computer 423.

With respect to the feature of (3) measuring the speed and direction ofthe drone 400, this is accomplished in one or more embodiments of thepresent invention by taking readings from an on-board airspeed indicator(not depicted) on the drone 400 and/or detecting movements to thecontrol mechanisms on the aerial drone 200 (depicted in FIG. 2) and/ordetecting movements to the control mechanisms on the terrestrial drone300 (depicted in FIG. 3) and/or the positioning system 151 discussedabove.

With respect to the feature of (4) providing any other inputs needed tosafely control the movement of the drone 400, such inputs include, butare not limited to, control signals to direct the aerial drone 400 tomake an emergency landing, etc.

Also on drone 400 in one or more embodiments of the present invention isa camera 426, which is capable of sending still or moving visible lightdigital photographic images (and/or infrared light digital photographicimages) to the drone on-board computer 423. These images can be used todetermine the location of the aerial drone 400 (e.g., by matching toknown landmarks), to sense other drones/obstacles, and/or to determinespeed (by tracking changes to images passing by) of the aerial drone.

Also on aerial drone 400 in one or more embodiments of the presentinvention are sensors 415. Examples of sensors 415 include, but are notlimited to, air pressure gauges, microphones, barometers, chemicalsensors, vibration sensors, etc., which detect a real-time operationalcondition of drone 400 and/or an environment around drone 400. Anotherexample of a sensor from sensors 415 is a light sensor, which is able todetect light from other drones, auditorium lights, etc., in order toascertain the environment in which drone 400 is operating.

Also on drone 400 in one or more embodiments of the present inventionare lights 409. Lights 409 are activated by drone on-board computer 423to provide visual warnings, alerts, indications of microphoneactivation, etc. as described herein.

Also on drone 400 in one or more embodiments of the present invention isa speaker 411. Speaker 411 is used by drone on-board computer 423 toprovide aural warnings, alerts, etc., as well as generating noisecancellation sound as described herein.

Also on drone 200 in one or more embodiments of the present invention isa microphone 418. In an embodiment, microphone 418 is an omnidirectionalsensor that measures ambient noise (e.g., sound produced by the drone400), in order to generate noise-cancelling sound from the speaker 411.In another embodiment, microphone 418 is a directional microphone (e.g.,that captures sounds at some distance away from the drone 400) used tocapture speech from users.

With reference now to FIG. 5, assume that one or more drones act asmobile audio input devices (i.e., mobile microphones) are in use in anauditorium for selectively capturing the speech of persons within theauditorium. For example, assume that person 503, person 505, and person507 are members of an audience in an auditorium. Assume now that person505 would like to engage in a dialog with panel members (not shown) whoare presenting a seminar in the auditorium. As such, person 505 needsaccess to a microphone, so that the panel members can hear him/her.

The present invention uses a drone 500 that is equipped with a wirelessmicrophone (e.g., aerial drone 400 as shown in FIG. 4). The movement ofdrone 500 and the wireless microphone is controlled by a dronecontroller device 555. When drone 500 is close enough to person 505 tocapture his/her speech with an on-board microphone (e.g., microphone 226shown in FIG. 2), that captured speech is digitized and sent to a publicaddress system 515, which includes a receiver, an amplifier, andspeakers for reproducing the captured speech of person 505.

For example, assume that person 505 is waving his hand, as shown in FIG.5. A camera (e.g., camera 228 shown in FIG. 2) detects this hand waving,identifies the location of person 505 (e.g., using triangulation betweenthe drone 500 as it moves and the movement of the camera 228 whiletracking person 505), and then sends the drone 500 to hover at thislocation.

Alternatively, drone controller device 555 and/or a drone on-boardcontroller within drone 500 are able to “hone in” on a signal beingemitted from an electronic device being held by person 505 (e.g., thedepicted smart phone 509), in order to identify where drone 500 (and itsattached microphone) should go.

As shown in FIG. 5, at this point drone 500 does not move to thelocation of person 503 or person 507, since they (or their electronicdevices) have issued no indication that they want to speak.

In an embodiment of the present invention, person 505 is able to control(e.g., via instructions input into his smart phone 509 and transmittedto the peripherals controller 224 (see FIG. 2) on the drone 500) themovement of a pointer (e.g., a laser pointer such as pointer 230 shownin FIG. 2) in order to shine a laser beam onto an auditorium screen 511.That is, assume that a slide is being projected onto auditorium screen511. Person 505 is thus able to user his smart phone 509 to cause thelaser pointer on drone 500 to point to a particular spot on that slide.

In an embodiment of the present invention, person 505 is selected to usedrone 500 and its attached microphone based on a biometric sensor 513that is worn by the person (or is part of smart phone 509). Examples ofbiometric sensor 513 include, but are not limited to, a heart ratemonitor, a skin galvanometer, a respiratory monitor, a skin thermometer,etc., all of which are indicative of certain physiological and/oremotional states, such as agitation, anger, happiness, etc. Thus, ifperson 505 is deemed to be particularly agitated, then drone 500 may bedirected to travel to his location in order to determine what is causinghis agitation. Alternatively, if person 505 is deemed to be particularlyagitated, then drone 500 may be directed avoid his location, lest he isdisruptive to the seminar being held in the auditorium.

In an embodiment of the present invention, person 505 is selected to usedrone 500 and its attached microphone according to his profile found ina user profile database 517, which is accessible to the drone controllerdevice 555. For example, assume that person 505 is identified as “Dr. A”(e.g., from facial recognition from a photo of person 505 taken by drone500, an identifier of person 505 transmitted from smart phone 509, aradio frequency identifier (RFID) chip in a seminar access badge worn byperson 505, etc.). As such, if Dr. A has a history of asking intelligentquestions at other seminars having a similar topic as a current seminarin the auditorium being services by drone 500, the drone 500 may bepreemptively directed to the location of person 505. Alternatively, ifDr. A has no background in the topic of the current seminar (asdetermined by his profile found in user profile database 517), thendrone 500 may be directed to avoid the location of person 505, since hisquestion/comment is unlikely to be elucidating.

With reference now to FIG. 6, a high-level flow chart of one or moresteps performed by one or more computing and/or other hardware devicesto control movement of an aerial drone within a predetermined location(e.g., within an auditorium in which a seminar is being held) inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention ispresented.

After initiator block 602, one or more processors (e.g., within drone500 and/or drone controller device 555 shown in FIG. 5) detect a firstlocation of a mobile audio input device (e.g., the current location ofdrone 500 shown in FIG. 5), as described in block 604.

As described in block 606, the processor(s) identify a user (e.g.,person 505 shown in FIG. 5) that desires to input a speech input to amicrophone (e.g., microphone 226 shown in FIG. 2) on the mobile audioinput device. In one or more embodiments, the user (e.g., person 505) isnot interested in just using microphone 226, or in an alternativeembodiment, not even using microphone 226 at all, but rather isinterested in using camera 228 to take an image of something that hewould like for the camera 228 on drone 500 to capture and send to theauditorium screen 511. Similarly, the user may be interested in using(in one embodiment, only using) the pointer 230 described in FIG. 2.

With reference now to block 608, in FIG. 6, the processor(s) then detecta second location of the user (e.g., the current location of person 505shown in FIG. 5).

As described in block 610, the processor(s) then direct the mobile audioinput device to autonomously move (e.g., using the mechanisms shown inFIG. 4) from the first location (where the drone is currently located)to the second location (where the person wanting to speak is located).

As described in query block 612, the processor(s) make a determinationas to whether the mobile audio input device has reached the secondlocation (e.g., is drone 500 now hovering over person 505).

If so, then as described in block 614, the processor(s) activate themicrophone on the mobile audio input device, such that the user's speechcan be wirelessly captured and sent to a public address system withinthe auditorium.

The flow-chart ends at terminator block 616.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the processor(s) detect aphysical gesture (e.g., hand or arm waving) from the user to identifythe user that desires to input the speech input to the microphone on themobile audio input device, as described herein.

In an embodiment of the present invention, if the person waving hishand/arms does so before other persons, then he/she gets to use thedrone/microphone before other persons. Thus, the processor(s) prioritizea primary user over other users from the group of users based on theprimary user making the physical gesture before the other users from thegroup of users.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the processor(s) detect asignal from an electronic device (e.g., smart phone 509 shown in FIG. 5)held by the user to identify the user that desires to input the speechinput to the microphone on the mobile audio input device. For example,person 505 may touch an icon on his smart phone 509 indicating thathe/she desires to speak to the seminar attendees/panel.

In an embodiment of the present invention, if the electronic device(e.g., smart phone 509) is a first user device that is capable ofreceiving messages from a second electronic device (e.g., another smartphone held by a seminar panel member), the one or more processors enablethe first user device to receive a message from the second electronicdevice in response to the microphone on the mobile audio input devicebeing activated at the second location. Thus, person 505 can have adirect dialog (in text or voice) with the panel member.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the processor(s) detect asignal from an electronic device (e.g., smart phone 509) held by theuser indicating that the user desires to input the speech input to themicrophone on the mobile audio input device (i.e., person 505 wants totalk into the microphone on drone 500 shown in FIG. 5). The processor(s)then disable the microphone on the mobile audio input device until asignal is received from the electronic device to re-activate themicrophone on the mobile audio input device. That is, person 505 now hascontrol over the microphone, such that it does not pick up his speechuntil person 505 enters a microphone activation input on his smart phone509, thus activating (turning on) the microphone that is on drone 500.In an embodiment, in response to the microphone on drone 500 beingre-activated, the smart phone (or drone controller device 555 of drone500) provides an indicator on the electronic device that the microphonehas been re-activated. For example, if the microphone on drone 500 isturned on, then the screen of the smart phone 509 may turn green.

In an embodiment of the present invention, person 505 shown in FIG. 5 isa primary user from a group of users (e.g., person 503, person 505, andperson 507). In this embodiment, the processor(s) prioritize use of themobile audio input device by the primary user over other users from thegroup of users based on biometric sensor readings taken for the primaryuser, as described above.

Other factors that can be used to prioritize who gets to use themicrophone on drone 500 first are found in the user profile database515, such as a particular person's speaking history at a current orsimilar seminars, level of expertise in the topic of the currentseminar, the job, title, resume, etc. of the requesting speaker/user asit relates to the topic of the meeting/seminar, etc. Thus, certainpersons can be put on a “whitelist” of preferred speakers, while otherpersons can be put on a “blacklist” of speakers to be avoided, based ontheir respective profiles, as related to the topic of the currentmeeting/seminar.

In an embodiment of the present invention, no particular person isallowed to use the microphone on the drone 500 for too long a period.Thus, the processor(s) determine that the mobile audio input device hasbeen at the second location for more than a predetermined amount of time(e.g., three minutes). In response to determining that the mobile audioinput device has been at the second location for more than thepredetermined amount of time, the processor(s) issue directions to acontroller (e.g., drone on-board computer 423 shown in FIG. 4) on themobile audio input device to move the mobile audio input device awayfrom the second position (i.e., move away from the current speaker).

In an embodiment of the present invention, upon determining that themobile audio input device has been at the second location (of the user)for too long (more than a predetermined amount of time), theprocessor(s) will issue a signal to the electronic device (e.g., aflashing light on the display of the user's smart phone) advising theuser that the mobile audio input device will move away from the secondposition after an additional period of specified time (e.g., the droneand microphone will fly away in 30 seconds).

In an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile audio input deviceis a primary audio input device from a group of audio input deviceswithin a predefined space. The processor(s) then provide priority of useto the primary audio input device based on a distributed leaderelection, where the distributed leader election identifies the primaryaudio input device according to a user of the primary audio inputdevice. That is, if person 505 is deemed to be better qualified to askintelligent questions than person 503 or person 507 shown in FIG. 5,then person 505 is deemed to be the leader of persons 503/505/507, anddrone 500 will be flown to person 505's location.

As described above with regard to pointer 230 shown in FIG. 2, in anembodiment of the present invention the mobile audio input deviceincludes an electronic pointing device that is capable of directing avisual cue (either visibly as a laser beam or instructionally, as asignal to a video controller on a display) on the display. As describedherein, the processor(s) receive an instruction (e.g., a user input ontothe smart phone 509 shown in FIG. 5) to cause the electronic pointingdevice to direct a visual cue on the display at a user-selectedposition. In response to receiving the instruction to cause theelectronic pointing device to direct the visual cue on the display atthe user-selected position, the processor(s) direct the electronicpointing device to direct the visual cue on the display at theuser-selected position.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile audio input deviceis not a drone, but rather is an electronic device (e.g., a smart phone)that is carried by a user. Thus, if a supervisory computer (e.g.,computer 101 shown in FIG. 1) determines that person 505 (holding smartphone 509) is to be designated as a next speaker, then smart phone 509is activated as a mobile microphone (the mobile audio input device).Thus, person 505 simply speaks directly into smart phone 509, which thentransmits his speech input to the public address system 515 shown inFIG. 5.

As described in FIG. 2, in one embodiment of the present invention themobile audio input device is an aerial drone (aerial drone 200) that iscapable of autonomous movement.

As described in FIG. 3, in one embodiment of the present invention themobile audio input device is a terrestrial drone (terrestrial drone 300)that is capable of autonomous movement.

The present invention may be implemented in one or more embodimentsusing cloud computing. Nonetheless, it is understood in advance thatalthough this disclosure includes a detailed description on cloudcomputing, implementation of the teachings recited herein are notlimited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of thepresent invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction withany other type of computing environment now known or later developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 7, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-54Nshown in FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 8, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 7) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 8 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and drone control processing 96.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the presentinvention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of various embodiments of the present invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description, but is notintended to be exhaustive or limited to the present invention in theform disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope andspirit of the present invention. The embodiment was chosen and describedin order to best explain the principles of the present invention and thepractical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the artto understand the present invention for various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Any methods described in the present disclosure may be implementedthrough the use of a VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) programand a VHDL chip. VHDL is an exemplary design-entry language for FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific IntegratedCircuits (ASICs), and other similar electronic devices. Thus, anysoftware-implemented method described herein may be emulated by ahardware-based VHDL program, which is then applied to a VHDL chip, suchas a FPGA.

Having thus described embodiments of the present invention of thepresent application in detail and by reference to illustrativeembodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications andvariations are possible without departing from the scope of the presentinvention defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: detecting, by one or moreprocessors, a first location of a mobile audio input device; detecting,by one or more processors, a second location of a user; directing, byone or more processors, the mobile audio input device to autonomouslymove from the first location to the second location; determining, by oneor more processors, that the mobile audio input device has reached thesecond location; and in response to the mobile audio input devicereaching the second location, activating the microphone on the mobileaudio input device.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:detecting, by one or more processors, a physical gesture from the userto identify the user that desires to input the speech input to themicrophone on the mobile audio input device.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the user is a primary user from a group of users, and whereinthe method further comprises: prioritizing, by one or more processors,the primary user over other users from the group of users based on theprimary user making the physical gesture before the other users from thegroup of users.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting,by one or more processors, a signal from an electronic device held bythe user to identify the user that desires to input the speech input tothe microphone on the mobile audio input device.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the electronic device is a first user device that is capableof receiving messages from a second electronic device, and wherein themethod further comprises: enabling, by one or more processors, the firstuser device to receive a message from the second electronic device inresponse to the microphone on the mobile audio input device beingactivated at the second location.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: detecting, by one or more processors, a signal from anelectronic device held by the user that the user desires to input thespeech input to the microphone on the mobile audio input device; anddisabling, by one or more processors, the microphone on the mobile audioinput device until a signal is received from the electronic device tore-activate the microphone on the mobile audio input device.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising: in response to the microphonebeing re-activated, providing, by one or more processors, an indicatoron the electronic device that the microphone has been re-activated. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a primary user from a groupof users, and wherein the method further comprises: prioritizing, by oneor more processors, use of the mobile audio input device by the primaryuser over other users from the group of users based on biometric sensorreadings taken of the primary user.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe user is a primary user from a group of users, and wherein the methodfurther comprises: prioritizing, by one or more processors, use of themobile audio input device by the primary user over other users from thegroup of users based on a personal profile of the primary user.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by one or moreprocessors, that the mobile audio input device has been at the secondlocation for more than a predetermined amount of time; and in responseto determining that the mobile audio input device has been at the secondlocation for more than the predetermined amount of time, issuing, by oneor more processors, directions to a controller on the mobile audio inputdevice to move the mobile audio input device away from the secondposition.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, byone or more processors, that the mobile audio input device has been atthe second location for more than a predetermined amount of time; and inresponse to determining that the mobile audio input device has been atthe second location for more than the predetermined amount of time,issuing, by one or more processors, a signal to an electronic deviceadvising the user that the mobile audio input device will move away fromthe second position after an additional period of specified time. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile audio input device is aprimary audio input device from a group of audio input devices within apredefined space, and wherein the method further comprises: providing,by one or more processors, priority of use to the primary audio inputdevice based on a distributed leader election, wherein the distributedleader election identifies the primary audio input device according to auser of the primary audio input device.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the mobile audio input device comprises an electronic pointingdevice that is capable of directing a visual cue on a display, andwherein the method further comprises: receiving, by one or moreprocessors, an instruction to cause the electronic pointing device todirect a visual cue on the display at a user-selected position; and inresponse to receiving the instruction to cause the electronic pointingdevice to direct the visual cue on the display to the user-selectedposition, directing, by one or more processors, the electronic pointingdevice to direct the visual cue on the display at the user-selectedposition.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile audio inputdevice is a smart phone being carried by the user, and wherein themethod further comprises: determining, by one or more processors, thatthe user holding the smart phone is to be designated as a next speaker;and in response to determining that the user holding the smart phone isto be designated as the next speaker, activating, by one or moreprocessors, the smart phone as the mobile audio input device.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the mobile audio input device is an aerialdrone that is capable of autonomous movement.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein the mobile audio input device is a terrestrial drone that iscapable of autonomous movement.
 17. A computer program productcomprising one or more computer readable storage mediums, and programinstructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer readablestorage mediums, the stored program instructions comprising: programinstructions to detect a first location of a mobile audio input device;program instructions to detect a second location of the user; programinstructions to direct the mobile audio input device to autonomouslymove from the first location to the second location; programinstructions to determine that the mobile audio input device has reachedthe second location; and program instructions to, in response to themobile audio input device reaching the second location, activate theperipheral on the mobile audio input device.
 18. The computer programproduct of claim 17, wherein the peripheral device is from a groupconsisting of a microphone, a camera, and a pointer.
 19. A computersystem comprising one or more processors, one or more computer readablememories, and one or more computer readable storage mediums, and programinstructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer readablestorage mediums for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more computer readablememories, the stored program instructions comprising: programinstructions to detect a first location of a mobile audio input device;program instructions to detect a second location of the user; programinstructions to direct the mobile audio input device to autonomouslymove from the first location to the second location; programinstructions to determine that the mobile audio input device has reachedthe second location; and program instructions to, in response to themobile audio input device reaching the second location, activate themicrophone on the mobile audio input device.